Tricky 'IQ test' has people baffled as they can't agree between two answers

13 January 2024 , 15:00

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The puzzle has people arguing over the right answer (full image below) (Image: @quiz_riddles/X)

A tricky 'IQ test' question has left people arguing over the answer, as they can't decide whether it's 3 or 1.

Brain teasers are a great way to boost our cognitive function and keep our minds as healthy as our bodies. And while puzzles that ask you to find a hidden object inside a picture help you work on your perception, there's another type of puzzle that can work other parts of your brain - maths questions. This tricky maths quiz has left people so confused they can't decide on the right answer, as some people think it's three and others say it must be one. Can you solve it?

Can you work out the correct answer? (@quiz_riddles/X)

The difficult question was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, by @quiz_riddles, and asks this: "If A + B = 76, and A - B = 38, what is A ÷ B?"

You'll need a good knowledge of algebra to work this one out, and it seems as though some people in the comments of the post weren't sure about the correct answer, as several different options were being posted. Many people seemed convinced the answer was three, but a lot of comments suggested it might be one.

Someone said the answer was "easily" the number one, but while many people who said it was three were able to show their workings and explain why they'd reached that conclusion, none of the people who answered one gave any indication of how they reached that answer.

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Do you know how to work out the sum? We're going to show you but be warned - it's more than a little bit complicated.

Solution

Remember when we said you'd need knowledge of algebra for this one? That's because you need to know how to put two algebraic sums into one another to form just one sum. Your first step is to lay out the two sums you want to combine, like this:

A + B = 76

A - B = 38

Then, you can begin adding the two sums together. First, the two As - these combine to make 2A, otherwise known as 2 x A. Next, the Bs. Since one of them is a plus and one of them is a minus, these cancel each other out, so you're left with 2A +/- 0, or to write it more clearly, it's still just 2A.

Finally, add the 76 and 38 together to give you 114. Making the sum you're working out 2A = 114.

Now, you can simply divide 114 by two to give you the value of A, which is 57. With that knowledge, it's fairly simple to work out the value of B. 57 + B = 76, which can also be written as: 76 - 57 = B. A little help from a calculator can quickly tell us that B must equal 19.

Then finally, to work out the question the actual riddle is asking you, all you have to do is work out 57 ÷ 19, which is 3.

Did you manage to solve it? Let us know in the comments!

Zahna Eklund